There are in existence numerous devices for evacuating jars and other vessels containing perishable foodstuffs and for thereafter maintaining vacuum pressure within the vessel. Insofar as home canning apparatus is concerned, such devices have been employed in household use for the repeated exhaustion of air from jars after an initial opening of the jars and a consumption of the partial contents. Such devices also have been employed for the repeated evacuation of air from factory sealed jars and to other containers which are purchased on the market for household use. The withdrawal of air from a jar after each use greatly enhances the life of the remaining contents, whether the contents be factory or home sealed.
In the past, various patents have issued on devices for evacuating air from the interior of containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,173, issued on Dec. 8, 1959, to K. A. Klingler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,992, issued on Apr. 18, 1995, to E. J. Miramon, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,979, issued on Nov. 28, 1995 to W. N. Chiou describes various lids for containers. These lids have hand-actuated evacuation pumps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,804, issued on Jul. 6, 1982, to R. M. Maruscak and U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,957, issued on Feb. 20, 1996 to R. Maskell teach the concept of collapsing flexible bags by evacuating the bag around the contents of the bag. Each of these devices describes the use of a vacuum probe for the purpose of bleeding air from the interior of the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,160, issued on Dec. 3, 1968 to M. Weber, U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,114, issued on Jun. 27, 1972 to A. H. Sacks and U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,645, issued on Mar. 6, 1979 to D. G. Walton teach various evacuating vessels with various forms of valves. In general, all of these prior art patented devices describe affective ways for removing air from the interior of bags and bottles. However, in virtually all of the instances of these prior art patents, the evacuation devices are relatively expensive and difficult to use.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which allows for the vacuum packing of perishable items.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a packing device that is pump free.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a packing device that creates a double-contained environment for the perishable contents.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a packing device which is easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and easy to manufacture.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.